“ When we launched at the end of 2013 we had the single aim of getting more manufacturers and technology providers in a position where they could effectively supply into offshore wind. We feel we are well on the way to achieving this, providing strategic advice and access to funding for over 900 companies, ranging from steel fabricators and composite specialists, to blade tip innovators and toughened glass specialists. ”

The massive industrial investment in wind power around the UK’s coasts should be utilising UK business skills, technology and products. Many manufacturers were not winning contracts to support the design, build and installation of wind turbines and infrastructure because they didn’t know how to tap into the opportunities coming to market.

Government appointed a consortia of Grant Thornton, Manufacturing Advisory Service and Renewable UK to raise the profile of the market and attract SMEs with the capability to enter the offshore wind supply chain and access a £19m investment fund. Our job was to:

We conducted extensive visits and interviews with manufacturers. These demonstrated that manufacturers were sceptical of the sheer size and scale of the emerging pipeline of opportunities, as multinational primes such as Siemens won contracts to develop wind turbine installations.

It was clear that before making hard investment decisions, businesses needed to see the value of the contracts they could bid for and the dates they would come to market. We communicated that there were tangible opportunities with real commercial value for manufacturers.

Manufacturers demand quantifiable value in order to justify their investment in exploring a new market. The proposition spelt out that for a business serious about winning contracts, GROW would get the business 'market ready' before introducing them to key decision makers looking to contract suppliers.

Designing a conversion optimised digital experience

With minimal marketing investment and using third party channels to reach manufacturers, we developed a digital content marketing programme using data and opinion to drive senior decision makers to “meet the customer surgeries” and to “Act Now” and register online for a service assessment.

“ We are starting to see a noticeable change in Developers and Tier 1s engaging with SMEs. There seems to be a genuine commitment for local supply and, as a result, we are now putting on events that are bringing suppliers in direct contact with tier 1s (A2Sea, Carillion and Sif Group for example) and operators, such as Statoil and Siemens. With recent investment being seen in East Yorkshire and off the Norfolk Coast and further developments planned, the appetite to be involved has definitely grown. ”